Well, the three packages you mentioned have different purposes. PhotoShop Elements is primarily an image editing program - you can use it to change details in an image (e.g., if you have two sequential group shots and you want to combine them so that everyone has their eyes open). It can also be used to do general image editing, such as correcting lighting, color balance, croping, etc. Elements also comes with a cataloging tool, that can be used to organize your images. Lightroom is primarily a cataloging tool that also has general image editing functions - it is better than Elements for these functions, but lacks any of the detail editing capability. I don't know much about Nikon Capture, but I assume it is primarily for getting images from the camera (or memory card) on to the computer, with good general image editing tools.
Paint Shop Pro (and the Corel version) competes with PhotoShop Elements. It has some advantages, but overall for most people Elements is a better package and is pretty much the standard for low-end photo editors. Plus, it has much in common with the full version of PhotoShop, which is the standard with high-end photo editors.
Jeff Peterman "What we got here, is . . . failure to communicate."
Mike Campos
Mission Viejo, CA
So far I am concentrating on Photoshop Elements
Hey all, what I want to do is paint out backgrounds. When I load a picture into Windows Paint, I can erase backgrounds, but what it really does is paint them opaque white. I want them clear, transparent.
And I want to flood fill a range of background colors, not just one shade among thousands. Say, all the dark greens, for instance.
Will Photoshop Elements 6 do either of those? (So far, Irfanview and Windows paint have been sufficient for my editing)
Cal, from West Michigan
Local music, dance, and outdoor events info at http://www.freewebs.com/dancealot
Do you want one layer to be removed so an image on a deeper layer can be allowed to show through, or do you want to wind up with an image to show on a webpage, in such a way that the page's background color shows through it?
I want to take an object, such as a bird or flower, and remove it from its background. IOW erase the area around the object. Not just paint the background white. Then I want to but a new background, say some text or trees, around the object.
In the past, with paint programs, the now-white area covers some of the text.
However, I used to be able, in Corel Photo House, I think, which I have lost., to specify a "color" that would be transparent ,
Exactly right. For example, I could take a picture of someone's head and trim off all the excess, making it transparent. Then I could paste the head on the body of another person., presumably using CorelDraw 4.
So, how do I paint "the excess" transparent? When I use the erase function, it just paints the background as white.
FWIW I ordered Photoshop Elements 6.0 yesterday. I have been using Irfanview and Windoows Paint.
